The Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, met this Thursday in the Indian city of Bengaluru with the Vice Minister of Finance of China, Wang Dongwei, with whom he advanced in “strengthening bilateral relations”, the search for financing for infrastructure works and the strengthening of international reserves.
Within the framework of the G20 Summit of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Presidents, Massa’s meeting with the Chinese vice minister was the third bilateral meeting today, after earlier meetings with high-level officials from the United States and India.
As he stated in a message on his Twitter account, during the meeting with Dongwei progress was made “in strengthening bilateral relations, focusing on new opportunities and new mechanisms to finance our infrastructure and reinforce Argentine reserves.”
“This year China will carry out 4 projects for development in the country and we are also advancing with financing projects for the railways and with AMBA 1, which will strengthen and improve the electricity supply infrastructure in Greater Buenos Aires,” said Massa.
At the meeting, Minister Massa was accompanied by the President of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic, Miguel Pesce, and by the Secretary for International Economic and Financial Affairs and head of INDEC, Marco Lavagna.
In mid-November last, China confirmed the currency swap expansion that it has with the Argentine Central Bank, which will allow it to have the equivalent of some US$ 5,000 million to cover the payment of imports from that country, since the trade deficit with that country rises to US$ 8,000 million in 2023, according to official projections.
On the other hand, Chinese companies are carrying out in the province of Santa Cruz the construction of two hydroelectric plants, Néstor Kirchner and Jorge Cepernic, for which payments were made in December and January to allow the progress of the works.
???? In the meeting with China’s Vice Minister of Finance, Wang Dongwei, we made progress in strengthening bilateral relations, focusing on new opportunities and new mechanisms to finance our infrastructure and reinforce Argentine reserves. pic.twitter.com/VBdWSBxvbX
— Sergio Massa (@SergioMassa) February 23, 2023
